Understanding
by Milaya Milen Zeal
Summary: Out of all her friends... she felt she understood him best. LuMa


_**Understanding**_

_**Genre:**__ Hurt/Comfort_

_**Rating:**__ PG-13_

_**Setting:**__ Fated Hour_

--

Understanding people was hard.

A lesson Lucca had learned early on. Even Crono, her best friend, was sometimes a little hard to understand. He had decent ideas at points, but it made her wonder where he got 'em from. She was supposed to be the 'evil genius' of the group, after all.

Marle was… difficult to understand at times. Sometimes it was like she was on perpetual PMS or something. That, or she just had a major temper problem. Lucca had a little bit of that, but not as much as Marle did. From what Crono had told her, she had even started cursing at the R-Series after they'd trashed up Robo. Now there was something she had never heard the girl do, EVER. Not even when facing her father had she shouted like that.

Now Robo… Robo was a lot easier to figure out, but he was getting harder to understand by the day. Of course, he was kind, and thoughtful, but that was partially because of what Lucca herself had installed in his circuits. But she would have never thought to install feelings like "love" into him, as she had seen him express in his "home". So… even if she understood Robo inside and out, she would never understand him entirely.

And Ayla was just… a bit simpleminded. But exactly because of that, she was so difficult to understand at times. With her it was usually just "fight, fight, fight!" until the day she died. Then again, she was born in the prehistoric era; if she didn't fight, she'd most likely end up as prey. Some of her ideas, assumptions, or even actions tended to make people raise a curious eyebrow. If not a bit more… especially when Ayla had commented on Marle's (lack of) cleavage. (1)

Frog was a mystery to most. He rarely ever talked about his past, and only few people had ever really known of him when he was Glenn. So his past wasn't that easy to understand, though his ambitions were certainly clear as day, what with him shouting them out at Magus at every chance he got.

Ah yes… Magus…

Now THERE was the biggest mystery of all time, and yet… at the same time, not. Because they all knew. Everyone knew _who_ he was, _what_ had happened to him, and _why_ he was really here. They all knew… and yet no one seemed to really understand him.

Crono had tried, like he tended to do at times, but it had resulted in nothing. Marle had tried to be friends. Robo… well he hadn't really tried anything. He just stayed out of the way, mostly. Ayla had to be kept away from Magus so she wouldn't play with his hair continuously. And as for Frog… well, let's forget about that for a minute, okay?

Now, this might be considered bragging, but Lucca believed that, out of everyone on this planet, she was one of the few people who could actually understand Magus. Not just his past, but _him_ as a person.

There were only so many people who really knew what it was like to lose a person you held close to your heart. The _only_ person close to your heart. Not once, but _twice_. The first time had technically not been his fault; he had still been… what, 6, maybe 7 years? He was nothing against Lavos at that age, even if his powers had already been greater than his sister's at that age.

Now the second time… maybe then he should've been able to do something. But then again, if he had, he might not have existed at all. He was sent away into the Middle Ages _after_ Schala had sent them off.

Had he managed… his entire existence might have been erased.

Time was certainly a dangerous thing to be playing with the way they were doing. One wrong move and they could have their entire existence erased.

There were a few more things she had learned about Magus over time; while the powerful sorcerer had a very nasty temper, he rarely _ever_ lost it. She had actually been the one to quip the following; "Magus does not get angry, he gets even."

Coming from experience from when she had lost hers and had nearly torched his cape. That was rewarded with a very clever illusion trick that had made her think her hair had actually been on fire. As such, she'd been trying to put it out for quite a while before the mage had finally relented in the spell, leaving a very flustered and pissy Lucca.

She would never doubt Magus's powers again, even if most of his magic had been drained by Lavos.

Also, Magus had never really cared about the Demons. All he'd really cared about was power so that he could destroy Lavos once and for all. And he seemed to care very little about the feelings of the Demons in the whole matter, if you considered what happened at Ozzie's manor.

There was one other thing, though… something she kept secret from the others.

Magus was angry… at _her_.

Well, maybe not angry. More like… he was just upset because of her.

It had started a little after they had come back from Fiona's Shrine, after Lucca had wandered into that red Gate. When she had explained what had happened, what she had _done_, she had noticed from the corner of her glasses that Magus had stared at her for a long time, before turning away.

It wasn't until later that she realized, she should've _never_ told the others in front of Magus.

She got a second chance to change something of her past, and she had managed to do it. She had changed the past for the better, something that _he_ had failed to do. He had gotten a second chance as well, but he'd botched it up. And it upset him that _she_ hadn't.

Of course, no one really noticed, since the mage had expertly hid it behind his mask of ice, but it was obvious to anyone who had been observing him for as long as Lucca had.

There was one other thing; Magus was… rarely ever at ease when he slept. He stuck to one of the far corners of the End of Time, close-by Silver (2) and as far away from the others as he could get. He often sat there, legs pulled up and resting his head on his knees. No one really bothered him when he was asleep, not even Ayla, mostly because they were sleeping themselves, but Lucca was used to staying up late and waking at the crack of dawn.

So she had spent several "nights" (hard to tell at the End of Time) just watching him. He would usually keep his face hidden by his long, silvery-blue hair, but whenever he (unconsciously) turned his head, Lucca could see the look of pain on his face, could see his mouth moving without a word coming out.

Lucca had copied the motions of his mouth several times, but it had still taken some time to realize what he was saying. Or trying to say, at least. The same as he was saying now, as he sat there, sleeping in his corner.

"Schala… Schala…"

Lucca merely watched him silently, as his mouth moved slowly, calling out and pleading for his sister to not leave him, to come back to him and to stay forever. A lot of people would call it a "sister-complex", but Lucca simply called it "loneliness". The only person to ever look at him with kindness had been his sister, so naturally he would chain himself to the one person that he knew could bring him actual happiness.

As she watched silently, she couldn't help but wonder…

When was the last time he'd ever been held? Not in a choke-hold by an enemy, but simply _held_, close enough that he could hear the other person's heartbeat. When was the last time someone had come to him at night to see if he wasn't having nightmare? And when was the last time someone had soothed those bad dreams away for him?

She really doubted that the Demons were really that nice when it came to "hugs", "goodnight kisses", and "story telling before bedtime". And she really didn't want to know what Magus had been forced to endure as a child, but she already had a distinct clue from how Magus acted at times. And she felt that, perhaps, she was the only one who would be able to help him.

Looking around, she noticed that everyone else was asleep.

Robo was in standby somewhere near the small spring, while Crono and Marle were curled up in a different corner, Ayla lying near their feet and Frog leaning back against the lamppost next to Gaspar, though Frog was actually sitting.

As she saw Magus begin to shake in his sleep, deep in the throes of a nightmare, she stood up and walked over to him. Lucca stopped right next to him and crouched down. Magus was totally unaware of her presence, and now that she was this close, she could actually hear him whispering…

"Schala… no… please no… don't… don't leave me… I… I don't… don't want to be alone…"

Lucca's face shifted into a sad frown, and, without really thinking twice about it, brought up her hand and gently placed it on Magus's arm. He flinched and nearly yanked back, but Lucca shushed him before he could cry out. "Ssshh… sshhh it's okay… everything's okay… I'm here."

Magus's entire form shook as she moved closer and put her arms around the much taller man. It should've been difficult for her to move a man nearly 2 feet taller than she was, but he fell against her easily, as if she was pulling Dopple-kun (3) over. He moaned at the sudden motion, but instead of waking up, his hand reached up as if searching for something, before curling into her shirt. Lucca didn't really react to that, as she just pulled him closer until she had his pointed ear placed right over her heart.

She had no idea if this is how Schala usually hugged him, but she hoped this was okay. Just as the thought crossed her mind…

"Scha… Schala…"

Smiling softly, Lucca settled against the wall, pulling Magus down until he was half-curled into her side (which took a bit). "Hush now, Janus… it's okay… I'm right here… no one's going to hurt you now… I promise."

Magus's hand tightened for a bit, but then relaxed, and she felt the mage's body stop shaking. His mouth twitched for a moment, and Lucca almost thought he was going to say something again, but instead, she found her breath taken away when the "cold-hearted Demon King" _smiled_. Not smirked or grinned, but actually _smiled_.

Lucca almost hesitated to move, but she just couldn't resist and reached over, lightly stroking her fingers through the silvery strands of hair, which she found to be surprisingly soft to the touch. That action caused Magus to actually move a bit, leaning into the touch much like a cat would, and Lucca smiled a bit at the sight.

By the time "morning" came, she would be back in her usual spot, and no one would be the wiser. Not even Magus. This was a little secret that she would keep with her forever. No one really needed to know that the proud, arrogant Magus had such a soft spot.

Because she understood very well that that was not what he wanted. Ever.

--

(1) During the Rainbow Shell sidequest, Ayla originally commented on leaving the nest as follows; "Leave nest! Have baby! Give milk! Have more babies!" And after getting the shard, she'd come over and "inspect" Marle's chest and comment: "Marle ready leave nest? Not real big yet."

(2) "Silver" was the original name of the Epoch.

(3) "Dopple-kun" was the nickname for the Crono doll.


End file.
